Fan Fiction

Sandra schluffed off her oversized trench coat the moment the door closed behind her and blocked out the world that lay just beyond. Jack was nowhere to be seen which was fortunate, for him. She didnt go out often and todays foray had left her with an irritating desire to see him running around ablaze. Irritating because she knew it was not his fault her day had been so foul and that if he wanted he could easily fend off her attempts at Jack bbq. He never did give her a real answer as to why he didnt.

A quick sniff of the air told her Sam had been gone for a while as had Crystal and Wally. Their scents dominated the house but were stale, hours old and slowly being overpowered by the odors of the house. Some of which were oddly enhanced of late. The more Jack wove his newly aquired magics the more certain scents came to the for front. Not that she was complaining, Sandra was constantly aware of her own scent and wondered how Sam with his keen sense of smell could tolerate the acrid stench she put off when riled. Showers didnt help, in point of fact they often made things worse. Wet demon simply reaked, at least to her own nose. So much for the notion that in time anyone could get used to their own odor.

Rubbing her arms and shoulders briskly Sandra smiled and stretched glad to be rid of the confining coat and its distinctly rough texture. Yeah it made for a reasonable disguise but to her skin it seemed as rough as sandpaper, shot from a cannon. Her nose told her after a few steps further into the house Jack was indeed home but had sealed himself off in the attic. The peculiar scent of magic somehow soothed her temperment, It also reminded her of the last time she flambe'd Jack while he was in the middle of some spell he was tinkering with. Chuckling at the image she wandered past the couch and towards the stairs. It had taken him a full day to figure out how to unfold himself enough to turn tomies pages and undue the misfired encantation.

The door to her bedroom, somewhat charred but still functional creaked in protest as she pushed her way into the sparten room. Her scant wardrode lay piled in a corner of the room partialy obscurded behind small dresser she should use for its intended purpose. It hadnt been opened since that day. Most of the clothing within simply wasnt meant to slip past the hooves or horns. Still the under used dresser bore scars of her passing. Her tail had carved substanial gash along its face and her claws werent exactly kind to its surface.

Her bed faired no better but it was bit more forgiving since she shelled out the cash for kevlar/ptf sheets and pillow covers. There were the occassional chemical burns but overall she only needed to replace the headboard once a month. It tended to look like a scratching post after a week or two. Of the scant few large items in her space only the small computer desk managed to escape her wrath and morning clumsiness. With a light flick her wrist the trenchcoat dropped onto the edge of her 'must wash' pile. Somewhat awkwardly she slipped into the lopsided chair facing her workstation, the chairs ungainly appearance was offset by its functionality. The re-enforced side brace holding the back in place allowed her to sit without bunching her tail into an uncomfortable knot as she had to do in in most regular chairs.

A single finger snaked forward ever so gently depressing the button on the generic face of her homebuilt computer. While the machine whirred to life she simultaniously slid the keyboard tray out and lifted the reason for her excursion off the floor with her almost prehensile tail. The dark plastic bag held a months worth of back ordered software and technical manuals she felt it wise to study. She was after all in the tech support biz and if she didnt keep up with the myriad of advances made on several platforms she wouldnt be of much use. After taking the bag from the end of her tail it busied itself with typing out her very necessary admin password freeing her hands to sort the stack of cd's floppies and info packs in order of priority instal.

The tip of her tail had hit the enter key initiating the OS load when a puzzled look crossed her exotic face. At the bottom of the bag she found a curious cd very unlike any she had ever seen. It appeared transparent as she flipped the gelcase over in her dangerous fingers. Carefull not to mar the case lest it be of storage use after she figured out the nature of the unusual cd she pried open the thin plastic lid to get a better look. The cd was infact completely transparent until she tilted it slightly holding it closer to her face, then it took on a slightly intimidating glow. No name or label marked its origin nor was there any indication on the reciept. For the moment, she decided, it will wait. 'I have work to do.' With a quiet click the case was closed and shortly therafter deposited ontop of the quietly humming machine beneath her desk.

Sandra looked to her door when a light tapping roused her from the near total focus she had managed to achieve as she installed and quickly mastered the intricacies of the new software. Nearly four hours had passed since she had gotten home and as the seldom used clock on her comp informed her it was dinner time. With a weary sigh she slipped out of the chair and waited just long enough for the password protected screen saver to engage, with Jack in the house it wasnt safe to simply walk away from the machine. The last time she had done so cost her a week of disgusting work deleting the stunningly varied ammount of porn he had managed to download. Sometimes broadband access was more trouble than it was worth.

Crystal stepped back as she heard Sandras cloven feet clop ligthly to the door. "Dinners ready and I've got your favorite blend of coffee brewed!" She grinned at the quirked eyebrow Sandra cast her way upon the mention of food. Sandra no longer actualy ate with them but at Crystals insistance she was oblidged to at least join them for the meal. The instant Sandra closed the door and started down the short hall Crystal's mouth went into overdrive spilling out a litany of the days events in her all too cheery manner. Now that Wally was a regular in her life Sandra could see a definite change in her best friend. At times it was almost scary.

Jack cringed under his flannel shirt as Sandra slipped into her chair at the table. He had felt a bit singed when he had finaly returned from his meditative wanderings and as he was currently out of salve he desperately wanted to avoid being flash fried. He looked to Sam sitting across from him only to see the anthropomorphic rabit motion as if to light a match all the while smiling almost wickedly. Sandra caught the exhcange and chuckled to herself. The past few weeks Sam had taken to mercilessly tormenting Jack. She doubted Jack would ever use Sams whiskey for ritual purifications again. Dinner looked to be more enjoyable for some than others.

Crystal emerged from the kitchen Wally in tow and set out the dishes containing dinner For Jack Wally and herself a selection of omnivor satisfying seafood and pastas, Sam got a veggie stew and a heinous looking red juice drink that smelled lightly of some fermented grain. Sandra was presented a carafe of turkish coffee and her surprisingly durable mug, only slightly etched from her saliva. Not even the best of ceramics would hold up indefinitely under the assualt of demon spit and the decidedly more toxic coffee but this mug was holding its own fairly well. Wally pulled out a chair for Crystal acting the lovestruck gentleman much to the irritation of the rabbit. Not a group for typical traditions pre-dinner prayers were forgone, replaced instead with idle chatter between the gathered over how the day had gone while each filled their respective plates.

Sandra mused silently as she sipped the steaming liquid in her mug. It took all of her will not to spray Sam with a lethal dousing of the stuff when he made the match motion again catching Jack with a mass of spaghetti dangling from his overstuffed mouth. Jack promptly began choking as his eyes went wide. Wally gave him a sound thump betwix the shoulderblades and Sam immediataly regretted tormenting him that last time. It would take him days to get all that gunk out of his fur. Crystal wasnt as restrained as Sandra and her laughter echoed through the house. Sandra smiled shaking her head and swallowing the mouthful so she too could join in. It was indeed going to be one of those nights.

Dinner eventualy wrapped up, Sam had spent most of it plucking strands of spaghetti from his fur and flining them back at Jack much to Crystals dismay. She would end up cleaning the mess they were making. Wally sat in amicable silence enjoying the show and basking in the general closeness the group shared, he had wondered after the first few days if they were indeed friends but as they accepted him into their unique lives he grew to understand the bonds they shared. He was even beginning to fit into those bonds, Sandra no longer scowled in his presence Sam wasnt as nervous around him anymore and Jack had shown him the most impressive collection of obscure erotica he had ever seen. That night had firmly cemented Jacks perv status in Wally's mind. At times it wasnt easy, they fought more than the pack ever had tho Deyonne had kept the pack under control. Sandra had nearly incenerated Jack more than twice a day since they got home after the fight with Deyonne. Sam spent most of his time drinking away the obvious mistrust he had for the wolfen member of their group, the stench of alcohol permeated his very being making it hard for Wally to remain in the same room with him for any length of time. Through it all however the group stuck together and grew stronger with every passing day.

Sandra stole a sideways glance at Wally as she sipped the remnants of her coffee. She decided he wasnt as bad as she had first assumed. In the days since that awefull night she had gotten the chance to know him as a person and came to the same realization Crystal had, he was more a mouse than monster. If pressed she knew he would back up his bark with a mighty bite but it took some major pushing. "I've got some more work to do guys." She said as she stood collecting the carafe in one hand and stepping away from the table. "Thanks for the coffee Crystal." She deposited the mug and carafe in the sink and slipped out the far end of the room, there was still a lot of spaghetti on the floor from earlier and she didnt feel like scraping the muck from her hooves. She could barely reach them by herself. Looping through the small den they had been using for storage she did her best not to step of the scant few items Wally had collected since moving in with them. She still wanted him to find his own place but, as he had pointed out, doing so required money of which he was completely lacking.

Her steps echoed loudly as she clopped her way up the stairs and across the floor leading to her room. The past few days were stressfull in a lot of ways but she considered those to be of no real importance, they had enjoyed a relatively quiet week and she was starting to get work on a regular basis. Inside her room she took her place infront of the idle comp and began a slow burn as she keyed in the password unlocking her screensaver. A muted 'Quick Wally, Get the Fire extinguisher!" could be heard from Crystal. She would never let Jack forget his foolish misuse of her comp. Her anger flared once again as she thought about it which illicited yet another round of humorously panicked shouts for fire supression.

Another few hours passed as she put the finishing touches on her personal assignments, diligent study of the manuals she had took effort but she enjoyed the challenge. With her work done for the night she leaned back in the chair stretching to her full length, demon anatomy wasnt meant for human seating. Not for any length of time at least. As she stretched and withdrew her extremities a hoof grazed the scuffed side of her comps durable case knocking it hard enough to shake the odd disc from its perch, the gelcase clacking open upon impact with the floor. The sound brought her attention back to the strange cd and she smirked as she flipped the case closed with her extended fingers. There were ocasions when her demon form had its advantages. Using two fingers to drag the case across the floor and within range to pick it up easily she debated with herself the wisdom of seeing if there was actualy anything on the disc, curiousity won out and she tapped the button to open the cd tray. Once the cd was in place and the tray closing her last chance to change her mind passed.

While she waited the computer whirred and hummed spinning up the cd to read speed, a change in pitch and the sound of the drive slowing to a halt confused her. No windows popped up informing her of the disc in the drive and the light indicating the drive was in use went dark the moment the drive went silent. Tapping the button to open the drive again her jaw dropped, it was empty. No cd no shrapnel from an exploded cd nothing to indicate there had ever been one. Except the gelcase in her lap. She closed the drive again and watched as it noted its empty state with a flash then went dark again. Before she could turn to face the monitor and begin a closer inspection of her system the indicator light denoting activity in the cpu lit up like the fourth of july. Several things happened all at once in the moment after. A series of small windows opened themselves on her digital desktop each displaying a number of graphical readouts in a language she had never encountered before, her email sounder went off declaring she had just recieved a number of emails before it too joined the clutter of new windows. A dozen emails popped open and the attached files began running themselves. It appeared to be a full blown assualt on her prized porn free system.

Panicked she pushed back in her chair and dropped to the floor quickly reaching for the power strip and keyed off the manual over ride button, much to her amazement this did not have the affect she had expected. The machine continued operating without its power source. At this point all she could do was watch and pray there would be something to salvage when it was finished doing what ever it was doing. New noises assailed her keen hearing, something beyond the visual display was happening in the machine sending her heart into overdrive. With great trepidation she undid the latches securing the slightly marred side panel on the case and pulled it out of the way. Unsure of what to expect she peaked inside only to have another jaw dropping moment. Some form of greenish glowing goo was oozing its way over the entire inards of the thing, some trails of the slime were actuly crawling up the vertical face of the motherboard while others were actively extending into open space arcing upwards in some cases to latch onto the internal powersupply. Reaching out with a fingertip she gently probed the goo insinuating itself into every nook and cranny of the delicate hardware only to recieve a violent electric shock from the substance. Finger tip numbed by the encounter she dared another attempt but drew short as the goo anticipated her movement extending several runners to block her. Instead of risking further electrocution or worse she opted to lean in for a closer look while desperately trying to avoid getting her face too close to the mass now filling the lower third of the case. What she saw nearly unhinged her, several intergrated componants were disolving or being pried off the face of the motherboard which was undergoing its own modifications. Unable to do more than observe at this point she pulled her seat back to the desk and flopped helplessly into it. With all the radical changes taking place she was at a loss to explain how it kept running, the monitor displayed the progress of the alterations in the varied graphics blotting out ther wallpaper.

After nearly an hour had passed the goo had completely filled the internal space of her machine and was firming up into a solid mass, still the monitor displayed activity. She almost jumped out of her seat when a chime sounded announcing the reconfiguration was complete but before she could do much of anything further she was dealt a major surprise that sent her into a full blown panic. All of the invading windows disappeared in a flash returning her desktop to her control or so it seemed, the moment she went to move the mouse and try to do anything with the system a new window popped open filling a fourth of the screen. The text that scrolled across the window chilled her to the core. It simply read 'Hello Sandra, It is nice to finaly have the chance to talk with you. I have had my eye on you for some time now and I think it's time we got to know one another.'